Aiiyah!!! The 55th Annual Merit Awards Celebration

by Donna Chan Chu

"Aiiyah!!" That became the cheer for the
2012 Wa Sung Merit Scholarship Awards
dinner on Thursday, May 3, 2012. As the photos
were being taken of all ten of the award
winners, Alan Wang, keynote speaker,
Karen Dea and I, the host and chair of the
2012 Merit Awards Committee, Karen told
us to all shout out Aiiiyah at the count of
three. As you can see the photo turned
out pretty good.

There were over one hundred people
attending this annual event. We all enjoyed
a delicious dinner and it turned out
that the prime rib (57 orders) was the favorite
over the lamb shank (only 29 orders).
We thank Rodney and Betty Gee,
Wa Sung members and owners of Pier 29
Restaurant for providing a wonderful meal
and a perfect setting.

After the meal, the program began with
Karen Dea giving her president's message
to the audience. In her message she highlighted
key points of each winner's essay.
The winners all had to submit an essay on
the topic: "You are a nationally syndicated
columnist; write an article on any topic
that would change the world." Many of
the winners wrote about their concerns,
but also wrote their solutions. Karen told
them community participation is very
important. She encouraged them to continue
their community service and one
more way to do that is for them to join the
Junior League of Wa Sung.

Keynote speaker Alan Wang

Alan Wang from Channel 7 ABC News was our guest speaker for the night. When I first
met him, I knew we had met before because he was so familiar. Did I know him from
Oakland Chinatown? Did I know him from my church? Then I had the chance to speak
to his wife and that's when I realized I had seen him in my home -- on TV -- on the evening
news. Crazy, right? People you see on TV so often just become someone you think
you know. Anyway Alan grew up in Kingsville, Texas. Being the only Asian kid in town
he got many racially ignorant comments and negative stereotypes. But all of this only
helped him grow the mind of an analytical journalist. He studied print journalism at the
University of Texas until a professor pointed out to him that there were few Asian men
in television news. After hearing this and thinking about it, Alan felt the responsibility
to step in front of the television camera and report. As a reporter he enjoys hitting the
streets and delving into prickly topics on race, gender and other complex issues. As a
news anchor he enjoys guiding the reports and keeping it all together in a live newscast
that makes it into your home in real time. Other than his job, Alan loves being with his
family and watching his three children grow up.

Alan began with sharing some of his stories growing up in Texas. Then he
spoke about how Asian parents would say to their children, "if you stay at
home, study and make good grades you will be successful." He said this has
worked to some degree, but what is happening is a phenomenon called the
"bamboo ceiling". A recent study showed a third of all software engineers in
Silicon Valley are Asian, but only 10% are corporate officers and CEO's in the
Bay Area's top 25 largest companies. These 10% are either ones who started
the company or owned the company. They did not come up the ranks. Many
Asians are known for being "great workers, not great leaders." Alan told the
students this is a huge misperception. They need to break this stereotype.
When he began working, he found it very hard to stand up to the supervisor
for better wages or better position. Some of the virtues and strengths of the
Asian culture can be a stumbling block or weakness to moving ahead. They
need to develop great leadership skills such as engaging in conversation, stepping up and taking the reins, and being
informed and aware of issues to name a few. He told them
there is a need for more Asian leaders. Being a Wa Sung
Scholarship winner is a great start to that leadership.

Before the awards were presented, I quoted one more thing
from Alan's bio, "with all the athletic and academic pressures
placed on young people today, his own parental demands
come down to this, do great things for other people." Wa
Sung also believes in doing great things for others and we
now present the 2012 Wa Sung Merit Scholarship Award
Winners.

Scholarship Committee Co-chair Donna Chan Chu

Before the evening ended, Karen made a few announcements of upcoming Wa Sung events -- the Runway Rhythm
Fashion Show, the Founders Day meeting next month, our Annual Picnic, and the Just for Fun New England Clam
Bake, the Annual Golf Tournament and then Chef's Delight.

After a ton of photos of the winners, the winners with their families, the winners with their presenters, the winners
with Alan Wang, the members with Alan Wang, we thanked everybody for coming and bid them safe travels home.

Now to explain why Aiiiyah! In Alan's speech he spoke of his mother and father saying this in the home while he
was growing up. He shared one embarrassing story. When his father was home he would always dress comfortably,
meaning he wore a hand me down t-shirt, boxer shorts, and his sons' tube socks. One day while Alan had
some friends over, his father came out of the garage dressed comfortable, but before Alan's friends saw his father,
his mother caught him and told him to change his clothes because there was company in the house. His father
looked down, saw what he was wearing and yelled out, "Aiiiyah! I just came back from the post office."

Wa Sung's mission is educational services and though in recent past, funds have minimally been generated by the Perpetual
Scholarship Fund, but this year we have the scholarships subsidized by our annual fund raising events such as
the Golf Tournament, the Crab Feed and the Easter Pancake Breakfast. We thank our members and friends for their
generous donations this year which allowed us to give out more scholarships. We give a big thank you to Dr. Janet
Lee, Yukiko Sakakura, Mary Lee, Esther Fong-Maynard, Stephen Woo, Lena Fong, Denise Hum, Kathy Jeong, Ken
Stillson and Hoover Ginn.

From the beginning of the 2012 scholarship topic to the conclusion with the awards dinner, it took many hands and I
would like to thank them all. First to the committee members who helped select the topic for the essay: Rebecca
Wong, Cyndee Lim, Linda Quan, Karen Dea and Cheryl Yukumoto. After the applications were received the reading of
the essay were done by the committee and essay readers: Deborah Pan, Jeanne Pong, Cimberly Eng-Tamura, Clayton
Yukumoto, Gloria Gee, Adrienne Fong and Esther Fong-Maynard. Then there was the committee to select the winners:
Adrienne Fong, Karen Dea, Linda Quan and Deborah Pan. Thank you Karen Dea for putting the program together and
getting them printed. Thank you Gloria Gee for making the dinner arrangements with the restaurant. Thank you
Clayton and Cheryl Yukumoto for donating and wrapping a gift for each winner. Thank you Cimberly Eng-Tamara for
getting the flowers for us to wear. Thank you Betty Gee for donating a bottle of wine that went into the gift basket
we gave Alan Wang. Thank you all who arrived early to help put signs, programs, candy and snacks on the tables.
Thank you Arnold Mew for checking in the members, guests and winners. Thank you Roland Hui, Florence Lau, and
Richard and Adrienne Fong for taking photos for all the members to see. Thank you to Alan Wang for being a wonderful
speaker and great supporter of Wa Sung. Thank you to Adrienne Fong for all her support and knowledge when it
comes to anything scholarship related and for being the best sister ever.

Even though the 2012 scholarship award program is over for this year, we are looking forward to another successful
event next year. Your participation is still wanted and needed by donating to the scholarship fund, attending one of
the fundraiser events that support the scholarship fund, and/or by participating on the committee.